Gut Check

About a month and a half ago my family started going through one chapter a week of the Gospel of John using a DVD Bible. The way we do it is we listen to the entire chapter and then talk about it a bit, especially if we have any questions. Then we go through it again stopping every time we have a question or comment. Then after we have gone through it a second time we share our favorite part and the part that we think is the most important. I have thoroughly enjoyed these times with my family. Yesterday we went through John 6 and I saw something that I've never really put together before.

In the beginning of John 6 Jesus felt compassion for the people following him around and decided to bless them with a meal since they were in a remote place. His disciples didn't know what to make of it since there were thousands of people and the disciples weren't sure where they were getting lunch either. The point is that Jesus treated a whole bunch of people to a free lunch.

The next day Jesus and His disciples were in a city across the lake so the crowd followed them hoping for another free lunch. Jesus chastised them for it and told them to do God's work instead. So they asked what God's work was and Jesus told them "to believe in the one He has sent." So then they proceed to tell Jesus that they need proof that He really is the One, and they specifically mention proof that involves... you guessed it, food. They were still looking for a free lunch. In fact, not only were they looking for one more free lunch, they implied that they wanted a free lunch every day (see vs. 31).

Jesus was undeterred, but also determined to test the sincerity of these "followers." So He begins to tell them about the bread of life. He declared, "I am the bread of life," and they began to grumble. He clarified for them, "This bread is my flesh," and they began to argue. He said to them, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." This horrified them. I don't know about you, but I've never heard a pastor proclaiming the benefits of cannibalism and vampirism from the pulpit before (He was teaching in a synagogue). I have to think that some of them literally got sick to their stomachs. Every mediocre Jew knew that they weren't allowed to drink blood, and here the Rabbi is telling them that they have to drink His blood to have life. It's no wonder some of them thought He was demon-possessed.

It says that from that time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. I guess so! Jesus blessed them with a free meal. They liked it and wanted more. Jesus wanted to give them much more, but not literal food. He wanted to give them eternal nourishment and eternal life, but He knew their motives and caught them in their own snare. After many left He asked His chosen twelve if they wanted to leave too. Peter answered for them, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" They probably didn't understand what Jesus was talking about any more than the others, but they understood that they had no other Lord to follow.

Here's the gut check. Why do we follow Jesus? Is it because He blessed us with a material blessing and now we want more? Is it because He healed us and now we want more? Is it because the crowd around us was going so we tagged along for the show? Is it because we heard about Jesus and were curious to see if He was the real deal? All of those are good reasons to start following Jesus. But we can't hang on to those motives for following Jesus. At some point we have to move to the point where we say, "I don't understand and I don't know what's going on. It feels like you are asking me to leave (vs. 67), but I don't have anywhere else to go. I am following You because there is no one like You. Only You have the words of eternal life."

Am I looking for a free lunch, or am I seeking the Bread of Life? May you hunger for the Bread of Life that satisfies every hunger for all eternity.
Blessings,
Shiloh